Drumbeat: April 30, 2011
Updated: 2011-04-30 21:06:53
: The Oil Drum Discussions about Energy and Our Future Time to Wake Up : Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever The Oil Drum Drumbeat : April 29, 2011 DrumBeat Drumbeat : April 30, 2011 Posted by Leanan on April 30, 2011 11:18am John Michael Greer Alternatives to Nihilism , Part Three : Remember Your Name Look beyond the realm of partisan quarrels and the same deeply troubled conscience appears over and over again in American life . Consider , as one example out of many , the way that protecting children turned from a reasonable human concern to an obsessive-compulsive fixation . Raised under the frantic surveillance of helicopter moms , forbidden from playing outside or even visiting another child’s home except on the basis of a prearranged and parentally approved
Royal Dutch Shell plc com News and information on Royal Dutch Shell . Plc Skip to Content Home Contact Us Contributors Mission Shell Blog Shell Library Shell may have to sell North Sea assets after tax raid Apr 29th , 2011 by John Donovan Published Date : 29 April 2011 By Martin Flanagan City editor ROYAL Dutch Shell warned yesterday that it may have to sell some assets in the North Sea and reduce investment in the region because of the Chancellor’s tax raid and higher industry decommissioning costs in the . Budget Simon Henry , chief financial officer , revealed that the changes could cost the group 1 billion 600m in extra charges , a similar sum to that facing rival . BP He said that Shell had taken a 60 million hit in the first quarter of this year on the extra tax levy on North Sea
The Independent Petroleum Producers Association is currently in overdrive parading a commissioned study that makes a number of claims about its member’s value to the economy. According to the study, independent oil and gas producers drill most of the wells in the country, create millions of jobs and pay billions in taxes and royalties. Furthermore,...Continue reading 'Independent oil & gas producers don’t need subsidies any more than big oil does'.
Royal Dutch Shell plc com News and information on Royal Dutch Shell . Plc Skip to Content Home Contact Us Contributors Mission Shell Blog Shell Library BP should look to Anglo-Dutch rival Shell to help refine the way forward Apr 29th , 2011 by John Donovan One of the most striking features of the oil industry in recent times has been the divergent fortunes of Royal Dutch Shell and . BP BP has well-publicised problems that explain its recent under-performance , such as uncertainty over its future in Russia and the shock of last year’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico’s Macondo area , which left 11 workers dead . Photo : REUTERS By Damian Reece Head of Business : 29n April 2011 The past two years has seen Shell outperform the All-Share index by 7pc , while BP
Royal Dutch Shell plc com News and information on Royal Dutch Shell . Plc Skip to Content Home Contact Us Contributors Mission Shell Blog Shell Library Slick Shell leaves BP in slipstream Apr 29th , 2011 by John Donovan Shell remains interested in a merger if the terms and conditions are right Oil battle : The Gulf of Mexico crisis has proved disastrous for BP’s shares , while Shell’s have soared By Hugo Duncan Last updated at 10:42 PM on 28th April 2011 In the battle of the UK super majors , the first leg of 2011 belongs to Shell by a considerable margin , said Richard Hunter , head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers , . yesterday It is easy to see why . While BP is plagued by the toxic legacy of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and troubles in Russia , Royal Dutch Shell
A new study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the so-called “Age of America” will end in 2016, stating, 'we are witnessing the end of American economic hegemony in the World.'
No wonder those oil boys at the American Petroleum have launched a campaign to try and stop further “tax increases” (read: subsidy removal) on the industry. They know that Obama is on their back. Yesterday, the President wrote to the House Speaker John Boehner, and other political leaders asking them to take “immediate action to...Continue reading '“We simply can’t afford wasteful subsidies”'.
China has made significant sacrifices in trying to help African countries lift themselves out of poverty, including the deaths of more than 700 Chinese workers in aid projects, Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying told reporters. He said accusations that Beijing's foreign aid to Africa was targeted at securing resources were "nonsense." Fu was briefing the press on a report on China's foreign aid released last week by the State Council Information Office. The report, the first of its kind, said China's budgeted foreign aid swelled nearly 30% a year since 2004 and totaled 256.2 billion Yuan ($39.2 Bn USD) from 1950 through 2009. 
Any regular reading of this blog will know that that the good old American Petroleum Institute (API) is fairly wizard-like when it comes to conjuring up numbers of how many people the industry supports or employs. Up to September 2009, the API had often repeated statements such as “The oil and gas industry employs nearly...Continue reading 'API’s Latest “Ridiculous” Anti-Tax Campaign'.
When you overview the world energy issues, one would think that coal doesn’t matter. Indeed, the first impression is no one among economists, politicians or energy specialists talk about coal. Even that blog follows the tacit rule with only 3 (now 4) articles about coal when there are so many arguing about gas, oil or [...]
The World Bank Group, perhaps the best-known publicly-funded international development institution, is pitched in an important battle over the future of its energy lending. Unfortunately, if some Bank executives have their way, the new Energy Strategy will become a blueprint for straddling the world’s poorest nations and people with dangerous and polluting energy. That’s because...Continue reading 'World Bank Executives: Stop Defending Dirty Energy for the Poor'.
The fast development of shale gas has revolutionized the American natural gas market; shale gas production now represents more than 20% of the domestic consumption. Meanwhile, natural gas prices dropped: the NYMEX price now stagnates around $4/MMBtu from $12 in June 2008. How is it possible to ensure a fast-increasing and profitable production at such [...]
The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and now South Africa to compose the so-called BRICS Summit met in Hainan, China (Apr 14-15, 2011) to discuss global economics, trade cooperation and developments in Japan and Libya. The emergence of this economic bloc could become an alternative voice on the world stage to Western dominated world finance and politics. 
Oil imported from Canada’s tar sands has twice the environmental cost of normal crude. Did we mention that they’re our (United States’) biggest supplier?
— By Ellen Cantarow
Pipeline construction on a line running from Edmonton to the oil sands near Grassland, Alberta. Imago/Zumapress.com
Thu Apr. 7, 2011 11:56 AM PDT
This story first appeared on the TomDispatch [...]
As the unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan has shown, the costs of cleanup after a nuclear meltdown are borne in large part by national governments and taxpayers rather than the industry. Paying for cleanup is just one of many hidden costs of nuclear energy that make judging the value of nuclear power difficult. Many countries, [...]